[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 98 (Tuesday, June 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4006-S4007]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Right to IVF Act

  Now, Mr. President, it has been 2 years since Donald Trump and the 
MAGA Republicans succeeded in eliminating Roe, ripping away the right 
to choose and jeopardizing reproductive care for millions upon millions 
of women.
  Today, women and families across America are worried about more than 
Roe's demise. They are worried about what comes next, including the 
erosion of reproductive freedoms nobody thought were at risk. This 
includes access to services like IVF.
  Eighty-six percent of Americans support IVF. But in the aftermath of 
Roe and after frightening decisions like the one from Alabama, many 
families fear that this basic service cannot be taken for granted.
  That is not theoretical. Here in Congress, some on the hard right are 
already trying to restrict IVF access. The Senate can ease people's 
worries and protect their freedoms through legislation.

[[Page S4007]]

  This week, the Senate will vote on the Right to IVF Act, led by my 
colleagues Senators Duckworth, Murray, and Booker. The Right to IVF Act 
establishes a nationwide right to IVF and eliminates barriers for 
millions of families looking to use IVF to start and grow a family.
  Protecting IVF should be one of the easiest votes the Senate has 
taken all year. The vast majority of Senators should agree that 
strengthening treatments that help people start a family is a good 
thing.
  In fact, I have seen personally the immense good IVF can do. I have 
seen it in my own family. One of my grandkids was conceived with the 
help of IVF treatment, and we are immensely grateful we had access to 
this service. I can't imagine what we would have done if they had told 
us: Sorry, we are no longer offering this treatment. Thank God we never 
had to deal with that.
  My family's story can be repeated over and over and over again in the 
country, millions of times. Millions of Americans have the joy of 
children, thanks to IVF.
  So in no way, shape, or form is protecting IVF a show vote. It is a 
``show us who you are'' vote. Remember what some Senators said when we 
first pushed marriage equality 2 years ago. They called that a ``show 
vote,'' ``gimmicky,'' and a ``waste.'' And, lo and behold, after a lot 
of hard work, enough Senators on both sides worked together, and 
marriage equality became a law. That bill certainly wasn't a show vote, 
and neither is this one.
  So let me say this again: 86 percent of Americans support protecting 
IVF, and just 14 percent of Americans say it shouldn't be legal.
  Supporting this bill should be a no-brainer here in the Senate, and 
it is all the more urgent, given what House Republican extremists are 
doing right now to attack women's healthcare through the appropriations 
process.
  Just last week, the hard right stuffed the VA funding bill with 
poison pills that would rip away reproductive care for our veterans.
  And let's not forget, 3 months ago, the Republicans Study Committee, 
which includes 80 percent of House Republicans--an overwhelming 
majority of them--pushed a radical new agenda that would endanger IVF 
treatment, along with a national abortion ban with zero exceptions for 
rape and incest--80 percent of House Republicans, an abortion ban with 
no exceptions for rape or incest. That is how far right that group has 
become on this issue. What a nasty and awful and out-of-touch message 
to send to the American people.
  Instead of pushing policies that the vast majority of Americans 
support, House Republicans continue to focus only on their most extreme 
constituencies.
  Here in the Senate, we should choose a different path, one where we 
show the American people that we protect the rights they care about. 
And this IVF bill would be a good way to do that.